


{Insert low-effort title}

by arfrid



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, F/M, Gen, Ouch, Pain, Torture, i named this document "maxhurtyhurty", the fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26479669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arfrid/pseuds/arfrid
Summary: Max is shivering. She had been given basically the minimum clothing, a tank top and ripped jean shorts. The room was cold. She didn’t know how cold exactly, but they made it so it was cold enough for her not to die or pass out, but so that it was too cold. She huddled her body together for warmth, ignoring the man on the table opposite her.She was fifteen. Fifteen, god damnit! El was her friend and she shouldn’t be punished for talking to her friend.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yeah i made this i was bored and im trash for whump and max is my fav char soooo

Max is shivering. She had been given basically the minimum clothing, a tank top and ripped jean shorts. The room was cold. She didn’t know how cold exactly, but they made it so it was cold enough for her not to die or pass out, but so that it was too cold. She huddled her body together for warmth, ignoring the man on the table opposite her.

“Let’s try this again.” He says with a smile, though the threat is extremely clear. She doesn’t respond, she can barely speak. “Where is Eleven.”

“U-U-Up your a-a-a-ass.” She responded, her teeth chattering. The man sighed, and with a delayed reaction of panic, she realized he was bringing out a knife. He walked towards her, and she couldn’t move, since it was so cold…

He tilted her chin up with the knife, nodding at it, before going down to her shoulder and gliding the blade across her arm. If she didn’t have goosebumps from the cold, she would definitely have them from the fear. Her heart rate sped up, and the man dug the blade into her arm.

She let out a muffled whimper, trying her best to not give him the satisfaction.

He laughs, then punches her in the stomach. The chair falls down with the force of it, and she clutches her stomach, curling up in a fetal position. He kicked her back, the stomped on her leg with his boot. She cried out as he turned her over and kicked her side. He pressed a boot into her stomach. She whimpered, tears definitely starting to fall.

“Where. Is. Eleven.” He repeated. She knew that this was just going to continue until she cracked, until she finally told him.

She couldn’t tell them. _Wouldn’t_ tell them.

“F-Far away f-from your s-stinky b-b-b-breath, a-a-asshole.” She replied, satisfied at the frustration in his eyes. He kicked her, hard, then picked her up and punched her in the face. She cried out again.

She was fifteen. Fifteen, god damnit! El was her friend and she shouldn’t be punished for talking to her friend.

He dragged her face up with his gloved hand by her hair. He looked satisfied at her, then he punched her in the stomach again. She doubled over, but he grabbed her chin.

“I said…” He backhanded her. “Where.” He backhanded her again. “Is.” And again. “Eleven?!”

She didn’t crumple and give in, but she didn’t have the energy to say anything so she just flipped him off. He grabbed her finger and snapped it backwards.

Now she was screaming with pain. She just wanted it all to stop, but then she would have to say where El was, and she was never going to give her up like that.

He ran a hand over her skin, where her newly formed bruises were from kicking her, then pressed into them.

She broke there, not saying where El was, because _she didn’t know_. If she had, though, she would have said so in a heartbeat.

“I don’t know, okay! I don’t know!” She admits. There’s a trace of fear in the man’s eyes, before it turns to anger. He picks her up by her hair and throws her into her chair. Her legs are jelly, she’s shivering from cold, and fear, and just everything, and she just wants to drown. The man’s grabbing something. She snaps her head up, immediately attentive.

“W-What a-a-are you… I-I-Is that?” She’s fairly sure she has a concussion, because the world is starting to spin and she’s sure she’s about to pass out. He walks over and injects something into her.

She screams.

\--

El ripped the blindfold off.

She had caused this. Max was in pain because of _her_. Because of her, she was getting hurt too much, too young.

“El?” Came Hopper’s voice, if a little strained. The rescue mission had been for him. El turned around to face him, and cried.


	2. That's alright, that's okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted y'all to know... that I DID NOT MEAN FOR THIS TO BE MORE THAT 1500 PAGES LONG I SWEAR

“Clear!” Came Jonathan’s voice as Nancy checked the next cell.

“Clear!” Nancy yelled.

“Clear! Robin yelled.

Eleven just called her friend’s name in the middle of the hallway of cells. “Max! Max!”

They had argued earlier on who got to come. It was easy to get Suzie and Will to not come, Mike and Dustin had done so more hesitantly, but Lucas had put up a fight, arguing if that El got to go, he should be able to as well since they were together, even going as far as to threatening to punch Nancy in the face, but the teenagers and Joyce, who was going as well, didn’t give up.

Lucas, after a long and exhausting argument, crumpled and sat down, defeated. He warned that if they didn’t come back with her, there would be hell to pay, and not for them.

“Clear!” Joyce yelled. They weren’t further down the halls, the teenagers and Joyce yelling ‘Clear!’ while El called out her friend’s name more desperately are started to get along.

Joyce looked in one of them, and her eyes widened.

There lay a shrunken figure in a light grey prison jumpsuit facing the wall. She looked far too thin, as if they had only given her the minimum amount of food when necessary. Her red hair had once been a pleasant, but dark, red, but it was now duller, and full of dirt.

“Max!” Joyce cried, running inside. The hall was now filled with the sound of quick footsteps, but all Joyce’s attention was on the redheaded girl in front of her. She turned the girl on her back and all the air went out of her.

Max had a bloodied face, with a heavily swollen black eye. She had so much dried blood on the left side of her face, it was hard to tell what injuries were there. There was dry blood just below her nose, and she also had a split lip. On her temple, it looked like she had been punched there plenty of times, with a large bruise and enough dried blood to make Steve Harrington’s injuries look minimal.

Talking of Harrington, Nancy, Robin and Jonathan appeared at her side.

“Oh, my god.” Robin said. Joyce felt bad for her. First, she had to see her best friend get beat up by Russians, now the same had happened to an innocent little girl.

There was silence for a moment, but then Nancy said, “What the hell are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Joyce nodded and went on Max’s left side, while Jonathan went on the right and they both half-carried, half-supported the injured girl.

About halfway to the exit of the hallway, Max become somewhat conscious.

“Lucas…?” She asked hoarsely. Nancy, Robin and El, both behind, exchanged looks with each other.

El walked in front of them, looking at Max. “No Lucas. Just me, El.”

“L-Lucas…” She slurred her words. “You can’t… you can’t be here, Lucas… T-They’ll find you… hurt you.”

Tears appeared in her ocean eyes.

“Don’t worry sweetie…” Joyce muttered.

“Mom?” Max asked, slurring as if she were drunk. “M-Mom is that… you?”

Joyce took a deep breath, then said reassuringly. “Yes, honey, it’s me. It’s your mom.”

The rest gave her questioning looks, but Max talked before they could say anything.

“I’m s-scared, mom… I… I want out…” Her voice was shaking, like it was on the verge of crying, and Max didn’t even cry, which somehow made it even worse to hear. “They hurt me… drug me… I want… I want to get... I want out…”

“Shh.” Joyce whispered as they neared the exit. “It’s okay. We’re getting you out of here. They won’t hurt you any more, I swear. They’re gone, okay?”

Max nodded, but as she did, she passed out again.

They all looked at her, alarmed, but they made it out of the hall, and they walked towards the main hub, where Lucas and Hopper and Steve and the rest all were.

Dustin was the first to notice them, immediately getting up from his place next to Suzie and shouting. “Steve!”

Everyone’s heads snapped towards them, and Lucas instantly ran forward and lifted her face upwards, then his breath hitched. As everyone noticed it, theirs did as well. Except Hopper, who winced and glanced away.

“Oh… oh my god…” Suzie muttered, grabbing Dustin’s hand and covering her mouth with her free one.

They walked towards a crate with Max and set her down with Lucas. The rest gathered he needed a second to process this, so they all gathered and discussed it with them.

“What happened?” Mike asked immediately. Joyce glanced at Lucas, who was currently trying to wake the unconscious girl, then looked back at the rest.

“She regained consciousness for a second.” She said, the words that the girl said reverberating in her mind. “She said she... She was hurt and drugged.”

Steve, Robin and Dustin exchanged fearful glances, and Joyce knew why; she had been told everything that happened on _that_ day, and apparently Robin and Steve were both drugged by the Russians.

“What kind of drugs?” Will asked shakily.

“Sodium Pentothal.” Hopper answered from the back. He looked pained to answer it, but he still did. “Same thing that Harrington and Buckley experienced back on the fourth. It’s also known as Truth Serum and it was used in World War II.”

They all stared at him, horrified, when Lucas came over with the beat-up Max in tow.

“She won’t wake up. I-I think she might have a concussion.” He announced. They all exchanged glances.

“Come on, we need to get back to the van.” Joyce reminded them, then she froze. “Wait. She’s going to need something to wear, something that’ll keep her warm.”

“I’ve got an extra beanie.” Mike countered, rummaging through his backpack. “And I gave El an extra coat, just in case.”

“I got some gloves.” Steve said, passing over a pair of mitten-gloves. “Dustin is prone to losing things so I decided to bring some.”

As soon as Joyce was confident enough Max wouldn’t turn into a popsicle, they ran outside and into Murray’s van and Jonathan’s car. Murray’s eyes widened as he saw Max’s face, but he didn’t hesitate to start driving away once they get in, with Jonathan, Will, Dustin, Suzie and Nancy in Jonathan’s car, and Joyce, Robin, Mike, Lucas, Steve, Max and El in Murray’s van.

Hopper reluctantly sits in the front, conversing with Murray as casually as he could, which wasn’t much. Joyce sat opposite of Lucas, Max and El. Lucas had one hand tangled in the redhead’s hair, while the other one was in her hand. He was careful not to make any skin-to-skin contact, since he accidently touched Max’s neck and the girl immediately got goosebumps and flinched. El, however, had her hands over Max, as if protecting her from any dangers. Mike sat next to Joyce, and he grabbed her hand when Max flinched, and she squeezed his hand, comforting him. Robin had been looking outside the van window, trying her best not to look at the girl beaten black and blue, but to no avail.

Eventually, Lucas fell asleep as well, and Joyce knew they’d fall over and possibly hurt themselves, but before she could do anything Steve had gone forward and grabbed Max, her leaning against his chest, as Mike set his coat down on the seat so Lucas was comfortable.

Joyce and Robin took turns watching the kids.

When Joyce woke up after a great 2-hour nap, everyone was asleep, apart from Steve and Robin, who both refused to leave Max’s side after they got to sit next to her.

The next time Joyce woke up after another nap, Mike was locked in a rock-paper-scissors battle with El. El won almost every time.

Then Max woke up.

And _boy_ , for future reference, _never_ put a _heavily tortured 15-year-old child_ in an enclosed space that was moving and bumping.

Joyce was nodding off when Max shrieked, and Joyce immediately snapped awake, seeing Max crawl into the corner of the van that she could, making herself as small as possible.

She didn’t let anyone go towards her, even Lucas. When Joyce tried, Max hesitantly shifted closer to her, refusing to meet her eyes but it was progress.

After another hour of plain silence, Max started shuffling slowly towards Lucas. He didn’t rush her, or force her towards him, he just watched, a silent excitement in his eyes.

After 30 minutes, Max wordlessly leaned into Lucas and closed her eyes. Joyce smiled at them, putting her hand on Max’s knee and reassuringly tracing her fingers over it.

Mike was brave enough to start conversation.

“Hey, Max, how are you?” He started awkwardly. El squeezed his hand. Max, without meeting his or anyone else’s eyes, nodded. Mike chuckled nervously and turned to El, a pleading expression in his eyes.

After 40 minutes, Max fell asleep, and they felt safer to talk again.

“She’s lost her freckles.” Lucas noted sadly. “Well, most of them.”

As Joyce squinted, she could still see several freckles on the girl’s cheeks like little stars.

“And she’s paler.” Steve told them. “I mean, she was pale before, this is just, like, Will-post-possession pale.”

Joyce didn’t like the description, but of course it was true. The only time someone had been paler was when she and Hop went into the Upside-Down to find Will, and he had been in the goo…

She clenched her teeth, and tried to stop memories flooding through.

They drove the rest of the way with awkward conversations, depressing ones, with Max saying nothing for the whole drive.


End file.
